Punch, I had the same issue with AXH and child support. He kept promising to bring money to take care of DS "the next time he came by". After a year, I finally went to the state to file for their assistance. They got one partial payment from him and the job skipping began... and stopped.... and began again. This past year, he's apparently been working fairly steadily. So DS and I have gotten regular payments for a while. I won't count on that continuing though.
Oh, and my list wasn't exhaustive, by any means. Additional information, if you'd like it, could be found on different DV assistance and resource sites like:
National Network to End Domestic Violence | About Financial Abuse What is Financial Abuse? | www.loveisrespect.org WomensLaw.org | Financial Abuse